Franciszek Burkiewicz (1910–2002), Słonim, the 1940s

woodcut, paper, 16 x 11 cm (inside the mat);

Franciszek Burkiewicz—graphic artist, painter, and draftsman. He studied at the State School of Decorative Arts and Artistic Industry in Poznań, where he graduated from the Department of Graphic Arts under Prof. J. Wroniecki in 1935. In 1936, he transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he received his diploma under the supervision of Stanisław Ostoi-Chrostowski in 1939; he completed his degree at the Academy’s Department of Graphic Arts in 1947. After the war, he began teaching at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań, where he lectured from 1945 to 1952 and from 1958 to 1959. He also taught at the State High School of Fine Arts in Poznań, where he served as principal from 1963 to 1965. He retired in 1975. He participated in 377 exhibitions worldwide, including 45 solo exhibitions, and received 40 awards and honors, among them: the Mayor of Poznań Award in 1980 as well as numerous honors for his artistic, educational, and social activities, including the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. His body of work includes nearly 300 prints (primarily woodcuts).